USA > Pennsylvania > Dauphin County > Centennial : the settlement, formation and progress of Dauphine County, Pennsylvania, from 1785 to 1876 > Part 10
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Historical Sketch of Dauphin County.
MIDDLETOWN. .
Middletown-so called from its being located midway between Lancaster and Carlisle-is a post town and borough in Swatara township. It is the oldest town in Dauphin county, having been laid out thirty years before Harrisburg, and seven years before Hummelstown, and is nine miles south-east of Harrisburg, at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Swatara, near which the Penn- sylvania and Union canals unite. We are indebted to Rupp's and Day's historical papers for the following par- ticulars respecting the town :
It was laid out in 1755 by George Fisher, father of the late George Fisher, Esq., who lived until his death near the place, on a well cultivated farm which has been in the family since 1750, in the centre of a large tract of land bounded by the Susquehanna and Swatara, con- veyed to him by his father, John Fisher, Esq., a merchant of Philadelphia. The site was that of an ancient Indian village.
The proprietor being a Friend, several of this denom- ination from Philadelphia and the lower counties followed him; and these, with several Scotch and Irish merchants, formed the first inhabitants of the village, who enjoyed, up to the period of the revolution, a very extensive and lucrative trade with the Indian nations and others settled on the Susquehanna and Juniata, and also with the west- ern traders. Several of the Scotch and Irish merchants entered the army, whence few returned. During the revolutionary war a commissary department was estab- lished here, where the small boats of General Sullivan's army were built, and his troops supplied with provisions
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and military stores for his expedition against the Six Nations.
After the war, trade again revived and flourished ex- tensively until 1796, after which it gradually declined. Until then the mouth of the Swatara was considered the termination of the navigation of the Susquehanna and its tributary streams. So far down it was considered safe; below this it was believed to be impracticable, on account of the numerous and dangerous cataracts im- peding its bed. In 1796 an enterprising German miller, by the name of Kreider, from the neighborhood of Hun- tingdon, on the Juniata, arrived in the Swatara in an ark, fully freighted with flour, with which he safely de- scended to Baltimore, where he was amply compensated for his meritorious adventure. His success becoming known throughout the interior, many arks were built, and the next year this mode of transportation became estab- lished. This trade increasing, a number of enterprising young men were induced to examine critically the river from Swatara to tide water, by which they became ex- cellent pilots. The enterprise of John Kreider thus diverted the trade of this place to Baltimore, where it principally centered until the Union canal was completed, in 1827, when it was again generally arrested at its old post. It would probably have so continued, if the Penn- sylvania canal had not been continued to Columbia, by which the principal obstruction in the river-the Cone- wago Falls-was completely obviated. Middletown, or rather Portsmouth, laid out in 1814, by the son of the original proprietor, at the junction of the Union and Pennsylvania canals, again declined. A large trade, however, in lumber and other articles of domestic pro- duce, is still intercepted here, supplying the valleys of the Swatara, Quitapahilla, Tulpehocken and the Schuyl-
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kill. It may fairly be presumed, from the numerous local advantages enjoyed by the town, that it is destined ere long to become one of much importance.
The town was incorporated into a borough February 19, 1828, and contained in 1846, Rupp tells us, "about one hundred and fifty dwellings, several stores and tav- erns, a bank, four churches-Lutheran, German Re- formed, Methodist, and Church of God, or Bethel-sev- eral school houses, and the usual number of handicrafts. The first settlers were Irish, English, and some Scotch, but the present population is principally German."
The same historian has the following, touching Ports- mouth before it was consolidated with Middletown, which occurred March 9, 1857, then having a population of 750:
"Portsmouth, between Middletown and the Susque- hanna, was laid out in 1809 by George Fisher, Esq., son of Mr. Fisher who laid out Middletown, and at first called Harbortown. The same was changed to Portsmouth in 1814. The Union canal, the Pennsylvania, the Harris- burg and Lancaster railroads all intersect here.
" Between Portsmouth and Middletown, on the plain, stands the Emaus Institute, devoted to the education of poor orphan children, where, it is said, the children are to be carefully trained in the doctrines of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Instruction is given in the German and English languages, and the charter has been so altered by the Legislature as to permit the establishment of a literary and scientific department in connection with the Orphan House, in which all the branches of modern learning are taught. The institution owes its origin to the liberality of Mr. George Frey, formerly a distinguished citizen of Middletown. It has only been recently erected (1840), after many years of expensive and vexatious liti- gation, since the death of the donor, some forty years since, (died 1808). The life of Mr. Frey was marked with
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not a little of romance. His name, by the way, was not Frey, but Everhart.
"When Mr. Fisher, the founder of the town, first came to the place, he used to hire George, who was then a penniless German lad, to assist in plowing the fields and clearing up his new land. George lived with Mr. Fisher some years, until he had saved a little fund; but his am- bition looked above the plow, and investing his money in a stock of trinkets, finery, and orther articles, for In- dian traffic, he mounted his pack and started up the Susquehanna. Passing the mountains, he encountered a party of soldiers from the garrison at Fort Hunter, who arrested him as a runaway redemptioner, (a servant who had been sold for a time to pay his passage from Europe,) a character common in those days, and far more consistent with George's appearance and language than that of a peddler; for what peddler, said they, would risk life and property thus alone and on foot on this dangerous frontier ? Ich bin frey, ich bin frey,' (I am free,) repeated George earnestly, in German, in re- ply to their charges. He succeeded in convincing them of his independence, and went with them to the garrison, where he became quite a favorite, the soldiers knowing him by no other name than that of 'Frey,' which they had caught from his first reply to them. He sold out his pack at a fine profit, and continued to repeat his adven- tures, still passing as George Frey, until he was able to start a little store in Middletown, where he afterwards erected a mill. Near the close of the Revolution, when the old Continental money was gradually depreciating, George, who always kept both eyes open, contrived to be on the right side of the account, so that, instead of losing, he gained immensely by the depreciation; and, in short, by dint of untiring industry, close economy, sharp bargains, and lucky financiering, he at length be- came, on a small scale, the Stephen Girard of the village, and owned much of the real estate in and around the town. He had not, however, all the good things of this life; although he was married, Heaven had never
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blessed him with children-a circumstance which he deeply regretted, as certain worthy fathers of the Lu- theran church can testify. The property, therefore, of the childless man was destined to cheer and educate the fatherless children of a succeeding age. He died in 1807 or 1808, and a splendid seminary, erected about the year 1840, is the monument of George Frey's benevo- lence.
"After the consolidation of the two towns of Middle- town and Portsmouth, the old time interest in the grain trade was again revived. The reason why the place was so noted a mart for the sale of grain brought down the Susquehanna in keel-bottom boats and canoes was, the Conewago Falls, prevented their further descent. Much of the grain that was sold here was ground into flour at Frey's mill, or stored up and sold to the millers in Lan- caster county. In 1790 there was one hundred and fifty thousand bushels of wheat brought down the Susque- hanna, and passed through Middletown for the Philadel- phia market.
"It is worthy of remark, en passant, that in the year 1723 the family of Conrad Weiser, from the province of New York, leaving Schoharie, wended their way in a southwestern direction, traveling through the forest till they reached the Susquehanna river, where they made canoes, freighted them with their families, and floated down the river to the mouth of the Swatara creek; thence worked their way up till they reached a fertile spot on Tulpehocken creek, in Berks county, where they settled.
As an evidence of the moral, material and social pro- gress of Middletown, we may mention that it has eight churches, namely, one each of the Lutheran, (the oldest church, after those of Derry, Paxton and Hanover, in the county, having been erected 1767,) Presbyterian, Bethel, (Church of God,) Methodist Episcopal, New Mennonite, United Brethren, Roman Catholic, and African Metho- dist denominations. It has fourteen common schools and
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the Emmaus Orphans' School; six well kept hotels and a number of restaurants. It also has one lodge of A. Y. Masons, one encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, one lodge of Knights of Pythias, one De- gree Council of the Improved Order of Red Men, one Circle of the Brotherhood of the Union, two lodges of the American Mechanics, and the Washington Bund, a German society.
The location and business facilities of Middletown are not surpassed by any other town in Dauphin county, or of like population in the State. It contains among its manufacturing establishments two furnaces, one car and manufacturing works, a foundry and machine shop, fur- niture manufactory, tube works, five steam saw mills and general lumber yard manufactories; two sash, door and blind factories, a boat yard, paint and varnish works, a steam tannery, and an extensive cigar manufactory. It also has six dry goods and general stores, seven grocery and notion stores, three drug stores, three stove and tin- ware establishments, two breweries, two wholesale liquor stores, two harness and saddlery stores, several millinery and ladies' notion stores, a national bank and good weekly newspaper. The different professions and handi- crafts are also ably represented. The domestic market is well supplied, and carried on in a substantial brick building erected for that purpose. There is a beautiful and tastefully arranged incorporated cemetery and sev- eral others connected with the various churches.
The municipal government of the town is vested in a burgess and a town council. It is divided into three wards, all of which are ably represented in the council chamber. The civil order of the place is maintained by
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constables. There is also an effective fire company, and steam fire engines and accoutrements.
The population of Middletown in 1870 was 2,980, but is now fairly estimated at 4,000. The number of taxa- bles, according to the assessor's return for 1874, was 843; assessed value of real and personal property, by the same authority, was $449,593.
HUMMELSTOWN.
Hummelstown was laid out by Frederick Hummel, Oc- tober 26, 1762, and as a town is consequently twenty- three years older than Harrisburg. It was for many years called Frederickstown; the precise date of the change in the name is not known. It is situated nine miles from Harrisburg, on the Reading turnpike, as well as the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, in a fertile limestone region, highly cultivated by wealthy and indus- trious Germans. Among its earliest settlers were Jacob Hummel, sr., John Fox, Frederick Hummel, George Gish George Fox, Christian Spayd, Frederick Richert, Daniel Baum and Adam Dean. During the Revolution the town was a depot for arms, ammunition, etc., from which the garrisons on the West Branch were supplied.
The Swatara creek, along which runs the Union canal, is close by the town. On the banks of the Swatara, a short distance from the town, is a remarkable cave about half a mile in length, which is much visited in the summer season. It abounds with stalactites and stalagmites. Not far from this cave rises the lofty insulated hill called Round Top, from whose summit a fine prospect of the surrounding scenery can be had.
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Historical Sketch of Dauphin County.
Hummelstown was incorporated into a borough by an order of court August 6, 1874. According to the census of 1870 it had a population of 837, being at that time the third borough in population in the county. Its taxable population was represented in 1874 by 249 taxables, and according to the assessor's returns for the same year the assessed value of its real and personal property was $200,589.
HIGHSPIRE,
A post town, situated between the Susquehanna and the Pennsylvania canal, on the turnpike from Harrisburg to Middletown, six miles from the former and three from the latter. It is on the main branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The town was laid out in 1814, by two Ger- mans named Barnes and Doughterman, who emigrated from Spire, a small village in Bavaria. By an act of As- sembly passed February 7, 1867, it was incorporated into a borough ; but the act was annulled on the 8th of April, 1868. According to the census of 1870, the town con- tained a population of 612, but it is now fairly estimated at 750. It contains five general stores, one grist and one saw mill, two wheelwright shops, car shops, a distil- lery, a cigar manufactory, three good hotels, two churches, and three common schools, and several other business establishments, etc.
MILLERSBURG.
Millersburg was laid out in July of the year 1807, by Daniel Miller. The town is pleasantly situated north of Berry's mountain, at the confluence of the Wisconisco creek with the Susquehanna, twenty-three miles north of
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Harrisburg, on the road leading to Sunbury. It stands on an elevated spot a short distance from the river.
The first settlers of this region were Huguenots. Francis Jaques, or Jacobs, resided some time at Halifax, but afterwards located here, where he had "taken up" several thousand acres of land. Among others, Kleim La- rue, (Laroi,) Shorra or Jury, Werts, Stoever and Shutts, were early settlers here.
Millersburg is becoming a place of considerable im- portance, being situated near the coal regions, with which it communicates by the Lykens Valley Railroad, and with Harrisburg by the Wisconisco canal and the Northern Central Railroad.
The site of the present town was formerly a pine for- est, and an original lot owner could procure enough of pine lumber to build a comfortable dwelling. The place was settled some time prior to the time it was laid out. Daniel Miller, the proprietor, and John Miller, his bro- ther, emigrated from Lancaster county about the year 1790, and "took up" some four hundred acres of land and commenced a settlement, probably in the year 1794, which was finally laid out into town lots, as above stated. The prediction of a local historian touching the pros- perity of Millersburg has been fulfilled to a large extent, for the Millersburg of to-day is quite a flourishing town, and the centre of transporation of a large amount of coal.
On the 8th of April, 1850, an act was passed and ap- proved by the Legislature of Pennsylvania incorporating Millersburg into a borough. From that time its progress has been rapid. Its business and social interests are now represented by five general and two drug stores and one hardware store, two confectioneries, two stove and tinware stores, two harness shops, a shoe store, a whole-
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sale tobacco establishment, one national and one discount bank, two hotels and two restaurants, five common schools and three churches, and a newspaper. Its man- ufactories are two tanneries, two steam saw mills, two sash, door and blind and planing mills, one foundry, and one shingle mill.
The population of Upper Paxton township, as given in the census of 1870, was 1,371; of which 1360 were na- tive born and II foreign; 1,370 white and one colored. The number of taxables, as returned by the assessor in 1874, was 469; the assessed value of real and persona I property, $55,289.
DAUPHIN.
Dauphin was for many years called Port Lyon, and af- terwards Greensburg, taking the latter name from the Hon. Innis Green, by whom it was laid out about the year 1826. It is beautifully situated on the Susquehanna river and on the turnpike from Harrisburg to Clark's Ferry, eight miles from the former place, at the conflu- ence of Stony creek with the Susquehanna.
Dauphin was incorporated into a borough by an act of Assembly passed and approved on the 31st of March, 1845. It contains three dry goods and grocery stores (combined,) two groceries, two tin shops, a planing mill and sash factory, a furnace, car works, an exten- sive tannery. Its moral and social interests are repre- sented by four churches, one each of the Presbyte- rian, Lutheran, Methodist and Evangelical denomina- tions; three common schools and one select school; also, a lodge of Independent Order of Odd Fellows; a lodge of Patriotic Sons of America; a circle of the Brotherhood of the Union; and an encampment of Odd Fellows. It
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has three hotels and a number of good restaurants. It is a post town.
According to the census of 1870 Dauphin borough had a population of 739; the number of its inhabitants is now fairly estimated at 825; the number of taxables, as re- turned by the assessor in 1874, was 216; assessed value of real and personal property, $100,965.
DUNCAN'S ISLAND.
Duncan's Island is the name now applied to the flour- ishing settlement at the mouth of the Juniata, fourteen miles above Harrisburg. The name properly belongs to the narrow alluvial island, about two miles in length, at the point of which the village is situated. This island and its fellow, Haldeman's Island, although apparently in Perry county, are really in Dauphin, Perry having been formed from Cumberland; and the original boundary of that county having been the western shore of the Sus- quehanna. Haldeman's island (so called from its pres- ent owner) is not of alluvial origin, but is elevated far above the neighboring flat-lands. The farm house on it commands a magnificent landscape comprising many of the wonders both of nature and art. The river here is nearly a mile in width, and is crossed by a wooden bridge. A dam across the river, just below the bridge, creates a pool, upon which canal boats cross by means of a double towing-path attached to the bridge. The canal continues up Duncan's Island, diverging at its upper end into the Juniata and Susquehanna divisions. The Juniata division then crosses the Juniata river on a splendid aqueduct, with wooden superstructure, and continues up the right bank. There is also a fine bridge to the island, across the mouth of the Juniata.
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Historical Sketch of Dauphin County.
David Brainerd, the devoted missionary, leaves a record of a visit to that island, which was then called "Juneauta" island, which he made in May, 1745. Writing on Sep- tember 19, 1745, he says: "Visited an Indian town called Juneauta, situated on an island in the Susquehanna. Was much discouraged with the temper and behavior of the Indians here; although they appeared friendly when I was with them last spring, and they gave me encour- agement to come and see them again. But they now seem resolved to retain their pagan notions, and persist in their idolatrous practices."
"This island," says Watson, "was the favorite home of the Indians, and there are still many Indian remains. At the angle of the canal near the great bridge, I saw the mound covered with trees from which were taken hun- dreds of cart loads of human bones, which were used with the intermixed earth, as filling materials for one of the shoulders or bastians of the dam. There was also among them leads, trinkets," etc.
The island was originally settled by a Swedish family named Huling, who came from Marcus Hook. Mr. Dun- can's maternal grand-father, Marcus Huling, established a ferry across the mouth of the Juniata, and built a causeway at the upper end of the island for pack-horses to pass. Mr. Baskin established a ferry across the Susquehanna at the foot of the big island, Haldeman's. The trade at that time was carried on entirely by pack horses. When the hostile Indians broke in upon the frontier in 1756, Mr. Huling left here and went out to Fort Duquesne, and afterwards became proprietor of the point where Pittsburg now stands. Becoming discontented with his situation in that disturbed frontier, he sold out for {200, and returned to Duncan's island, where he re-established
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his ferry and made further improvements. A bloody fight occurred on the island between the whites and In- dians about the year 1760. On one occasion news came to Mr. Huling that the Indians were coming down the river to attack the settlement. Huling packed up a few of his valuables in great haste, and putting his wife and child upon a large black horse, fled to the foot of the island, ready to cross over at the first alarm. Thinking that perhaps the Indians might not have arrived, he ven- tured back alone to the house to try to save more of his effects. After carefully reconnoitering the house, he en- tered and found an Indian up stairs, coolly picking his flint. Stopping some time to parley with the Indian so that he might retreat without being shot at, his wife be- came alarmed at his long delay; and fearing he had been murdered by the Indians, she mounted the black charger, with the child on her lap, and swam the Susquehanna. This was in the spring when the river was up. Our modern matrons would scarcely perform such an achieve- ment. Her husband soon arrived and in his turn became alarmed at her absence; but she made a signal to him from the opposite side and relieved her anxiety.
Mr. Huling arrived safely at Fort Hunter. A Mrs. Berryhill got safe to the same place; but her husband was killed and scalped.
"At one time when William Baskins, grand uncle to Cornelius and James Baskins, having a crop of grain on what is now called Duncan's island, (having, however, previously removed his family to Fort Hunter for secu- rity) returned with part of the family to cut the grain, and while thus engaged, they were suddenly startled by the yell or whooping of Indians, who were hard by; how- ever, discovering they were neighbors their alarms were quieted, but. alas! they were deceived ; for the bar- barous savages, as soon as they were near enough, gave
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them distinctly to understand their object was their scalps! At this moment they all fled in consternation, hotly pursued, towards the house, and when there, Mr. Baskins, in the act of getting his gun, was shot dead and scalped ; his wife, a daughter of about seven, and a son three years old, were abducted. Mr. McClean, who was also in the field, plunged into the river and swam the Juniata at what is called "Sheep island," and concealed himself in the cleft of rooks, on the opposite side, and thus eluded the pursuit of the savages and saved his life.
"Mrs. Baskins effected her escape from the Indians somewhere near Carlisle; the daughter was taken to the Miami country, west of the Ohio, then an unbroken wil- derness, where she was detained for more than six years, when in conformity with a treaty made with the Indians, she was delivered up and returned. She was afterwards married to Mr. John Smith, whose son James is now re- siding in Newport, Perry county, and to whom I am in- debted for this interesting tradition. The lad that was taken at the same time, was taken to Canada, where he was raised by Sir William Johnson, not knowing the name of the boy, when he was baptized by a missionary, was christened Timothy Murphy. He was afterwards discov- ered by Alexander Stevens, James Stevens' father, who resides in Juniata township, Perry county, by some pecu- liar marks on his head. He has visited his friends in Perry. James Smith, his nephew, when at Canada in de- fence of his country, during the late war, visited him and found him comfortably situated near Malden, in Upper Canada, and the owner of a large estate."
The present Clark's Ferry, near Duncan's island, was called Quenashawake by the Indians, and the Juniata was spelled "Choniata." This ferry was once a great fording place-a little above it, at the White Rock, on the river side, John Harris had, in 1733, a house and some fields cleared, which was complained of by the In- dians.
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